It is true that the times are changing and that they have always changed. It is also true that over the last half-century, we have developed a consumer lifestyle with ever increasing consumption of goods and services. The huge difficulty that we face is that this level of consumption is unsustainable. We have the consequent reality of climate change and global heating; the period of abundance of cheap fossil fuel cannot last and with that, we are likely to experience problems with securing energy for the future. This may well be exacerbated by the forecast of the increase in population in the South West region, the UK and elsewhere.
There are many responses to these scenarios. Some may choose to ignore them relying on the uncertainty in the predictions to hope that they will not happen, some may actively campaign for a change in lifestyle for everyone, and some will see this as an opportunity to profit.
Nevertheless, it is clear from the consultation for the Parish Plan 2008, that two-thirds of the community were in favour of some action, notably to generate renewable sources of power. This was extended in the Parish Plan to include reducing the community’s carbon footprint and the required action was the setting up of a Group to promote these activities. This led directly to the formation of Transition Constantine.
Transition Constantine’s remit is to promote ways of reducing the community’s carbon footprint and building community resilience – and to report progress to Constantine Enterprises Company (CEC). We put on events to inform the community with particular emphasis on what individuals and the community can do. We have set up sub-groups to cover renewable energy, waste and recycling, food and promoting consumption of local food and food outlets, transport, and developing local arts and skills. We are keen to promote activities that increase the local resilience and reduce reliance on goods and services produced elsewhere. However, we stress that we are not looking to make our community totally self-sufficient!
We have chosen to join the Transition Cornwall Network and this means that we are able to link in with activities and initiatives in other local parishes, the local towns in Cornwall and across the South West Region. For further information on the Transition Town Network, see www.transitiontowns.org/